Hitsugi no Chaika episode 9: Memory is the Key

I believe it is difficult to miss my undeniably growing disinterest in the show for the last few weeks. I have grown rather uninterested and bored with the path it was taking. While I cannot say that the feeling as significantly changed, I did appreciate this episode for what it was. I still believe this show has no real outcome and won’t lead anywhere, but as a stand alone episode I really liked what was done and explained in this episode.

Memory truly was at the very center of this episode. There were two subject about memories that really caught my interest, the first one being the use of memories as magical fuel. I always said that I loved the universe of Hitsugi no Chaika, just hated its characters and story. The universe here is just so interesting, this is not a completely new concept, but the fact that the source of magical energy is memories does bring in a ton of interesting question about this universe. When it is said that people are “mining” magic fuel, what exactly is mined? Is magic fuel something similar to petrol where ancient creatures died off and their remains is now use as a source of energy? Is Magic fuel simply the memories of past lives that solidified into materials that humans now mine to produce magic? It would be a pretty cool concept, being able to harvest the memories of the past and use it to make cool stuff happen.

All in all, everything goes back to memories. It seems that they are the key to magic in this universe. You can transform life experiences into power beyond human comprehension, it is somewhat fitting I believe. Now comes the question “Is that a price I am willing to pay for magic?”. I know for a fact that I would never dare touch my memories for any kind of power as those are what makes me…me. Clearly using memories of the long dead wouldn’t bother me a bit, it is not like those memories will do any good buried underground, but using my own would be something I wouldn’t ever even dare consider. Good memories, bad memories, even if I got to choose, every single one of them are important to make me who I am.

Just take a look at what we saw this episode, for one of the first time ever Toru looked like a semi-interesting character. The guy always seem so indifferent and without goals, it is really frustrating and boring to see someone like him go to an adventure without any reason. At least this episode we got to see a bit more what kind of childhood he had, it does explain a bit his character and the reason why he act like he does. It was rather interesting to see the way he used to act as a kid, how brainwashed he was and how sad people from outside perceived him. Just a poor young boy who knew nothing but to kill, some poor boy who would one day be sent to the battlefield to murder and die like a dog. It is quite the sad existence. I feel like this sadness is what gave Toru some credit has a character, it shows that he is lost and insignificant for a reason.